Structure for covering a swimming pool



p 1964 L. M. BARTOLUCCI ETAL 3,143,384

STRUCTURE FOR COVERING A SWIMMING POOL Filed May 15, 1961 .22 [157% 23 V.-'l 1 g I" i :5 INVENTO/RS I I LwMBaTZZJZzLc United States Patent3,148,384 STRUCTURE FOR COVERING A SWIMIMG P601. Leo M. Bartoiucci mdJohn A. Rohrer, Albuquerque,

N. Mex, assignors to Bart Enterprises, Inc, a corporation oi New MexicoFiled May 15, 1961, Ser. No. 119,016 1 Claim. ((11. 4-172) Thisinvention relates to swimming pools and in particular to a structure forcovering swimming pools.

A number of structures are known in the art for covering swimming pools,an example of an improved form of swimming pool cover being shown inBartoluoci, U.S. Patent No. 2,952,024, issued September 13, 1960. Thepool cover means disclosed in said patent is an ex cellent example of apool cover means arranged to cover a pool, such as a swimming pool, asduring the winter months to preclude deposition of debris, leaves, etc.in the pool and prevent injury to children, animals, etc. who mightinadvertently fall into the empty pool. The present invention isconcerned with an improved structure for covering such a swimming poolfor short periods of time, such as overnight, and comprehends meansproviding a facilitated installation and removal of the cover.

Thus, one feature of the present invention is the provision of a new andimproved covering for a swimming pool.

Another feature of the invention is the provision of new and improvedstructure for covering a swimming pool.

A further feature of the invention is the provision of a new andimproved method of securing a cover sheet to opposite side wallsdefining lateral boundaries of a swimming pool space, including thesteps of wrapping around a spindle a flexible cover sheet adapted toextend across the pool space and peripherally overlie the wall, wherebythe assembled cover sheet and spindle define a roll, withdrawing thecover sheet from the roll by rolling the same with the opposite ends ofthe roll overlying the side walls of the pool, and securing the sideedges of the cover sheet successively to the side walls of the pool atspaced points thereof closely adjacent the roll as it is movedprogressively toward one end of the pool space.

Still another feature of the invention is the provision of new andimproved structure for covering a swimming pool space defined by spacedside walls including a spindle having a length greater than the maximumwidth of the pool space to be covered, a flexible cover sheet adapted toextend across the pool space and peripherally overlie the side walls,the cover sheet being wrapped around the mid-portion of the spindle todefine a roll, and means associated with a peripheral portion of thecover sheet for releasably securing the peripheral portion to the poolside walls.

A still further feature of the invention is the provision of a new andimproved locking element for use in readily removably securing a poolcover across a pool space.

ther features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawingwherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a swimming pool with a cover structureembodying the invention shown in partial covering relationshiptherewith, the cover being illustrated in broken lines at one end of thepool as at the beginning of the pool covering operation, and in dashedlines spaced from one end of the pool as during a storage period;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary vertical section illustrating the arrangementof the cover at the beginning of the pool covering operation:

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical section showing the coversecuring means in greater detail;

3,148,384 Patented Sept. 15, 1964 FIGURE 4 is a plan view thereof,illustrating the arrangement of the securing means in the cover securingarrangement; and

FIGURE 5 is a vertical section taken substantially along the line 5-5 ofFIGURE 4.

In the exemplary embodiment of the invention as disclosed in thedrawing, a cover generally designated 10 is provided for readilyremovably covering the swimming space 11 of a pool, generally designated12, having side walls 13 and end walls 14 defining the boundaries of thespace 11. In the illustrated embodiment the pool is shown assubstantially rectangular, it should be understood, however, that thepool may have any desirable configuration, cover 10 being arrangedsuitably to extend over the swimming space 11 thereof.

As indicated briefly above, the present invention is concerned withreadily removably securing the cover 19 across the pool space and tothis end, the cover is wrapped around a spindle 15, as best seen inFIGURES 1 and 2, to permit the facilitated disposition of the coveracross the pool space 11 by the simple unrolling of the cover from thespindle while translating the spindle from one end of the pool to theother, as illustrated in FIGURE 1. The cover is preferably formed of asuitable flexible material, such as plastic, fabric, and the like.

As best seen in FIGURE 4, the cover may be provided with a turned edge16 defining a reinforced peripheral portion. At edgewise spaced points,the cover is provided with openings 17 reinforced with suitable grommets18 arranged to be disposed in overlying relationship to the pool walls13 and 14 when the cover is extended over the pool.

As best seen in FIGURES 1, 3 and 5, a plurality of connector members 19are secured in the pool walls 13 and 14 in generally tubular socketelements 29'. The specific structures of the connector members 19 andsocket elements 29 are diclosed in our copending application Serial No.110,015, to which application reference may be had for a completedescription thereof. Briefly, however, the connector members 19 compriseelongated members axially movable in the socket elements to dispose anupper portion 21 of the connector members selectively in an upwardlyprojecting position, as shown in full lines in FIGURE 5 and in arecessed position as shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 5. The connectormembers are provided intermediate the ends thereof with a narrowedportion 22 and the socket elements 29 are provided with correspondingconstricted mid-portions 23 movably securing the connector members inthe socket elements for limited axial movement and free rotationalmovement about the vertical axis of the socket elements.

The upper portion 21 of each socket element 20 is provided with anaperture 24 as shown in FIGURES 3 through 5. A locking element 25 isprovided for cooperation with the connector members 19 to retain theconnector members readily removably in the upper position, as shown inFIGURE 5, extending through the opening 17 in the pool cover edgeportion 16, thereby retaining the edge portion 16 in position on thepool wall.

More specifically, locking element 25 herein comprises a bifurcated wireclip having a long arm 26 provided with a turned distal end 27, aresilient arcuate bight 28, and a short arm 29 including a mid-portionSil spaced substantially laterally from long arm 26 and spaced portions31 and 32 at the opposite ends of midportion 30 normally closelyjuxtaposed to the long arm 26. Thusly, the arms 26 and 29 cooperativelydefine a space 33 in which a portion 34 of the connector members 19 isreleasably retained when the long arm 26 is inserted through opening 24as shown in FIGURES 4 and 5 to dispose the mid-portion 30 of short arm29 in alignment with the connector member portion 34.

The distal end 27 of the long arm preferably extends sufiiciently beyondthe short arm 29 to permit facilitated insertion thereof through coveropening 17 and into engagement with the connector members 19 in opening24 thereof, whereby a simple upward movement of the looking elementbrings the connector member to the upper position of FIGURE 5 permittingthe locking element to be positioned as shown in FIGURE 4 by the simplefurther urging of the long arm as through the opening .24. To preventcatching of the distal end 35 of the short arm 29 on the connectormember portion 34 as the long arm 26 is moved through the opening 24,short arm end 35 may be turned slightly outwardly as shown in FIGURES 3and 4.

The installation of the cover over the pool 12 is extremely simple. Thecover sheet wrapped on spindle is firstly positioned on one end wall 14of the pool 12 with the free end 36 of the cover sheet lowermost andextending away from the opposite end wall of the pool with the openings17 in the peripheral position 16 thereof aligned with the connectormembers 19 disposed in the one end wall. The connector members areextended upwardly through the openings in cover end 36 and the end 36 issecured thereto by the locking elements 25 as discussed above. The coversheet roll 37 is now unwound by advancing it toward the opposite endwall 14. Preferably, two persons may eifect this operation, one at eachend of the roll engaging the spindle 15 which, as shown in FIGURE 1,preferably is longer than the cover width to have its opposite ends 38project outwardly from the cover edges. As the roll 37 is progressivelyadvanced toward the opposite end wall 14, the respective openings 17 ofthe cover sheet 10 are disposed in overlying alignment with theconnector members in the side walls 13. The connector members are raisedseriatim and retained by the locking elements 25 as discussed above tosecure progressively the portions of the cover edge 16 to the pool sidewalls 13. Illustratively, the roll 37 may be advanced in step-by-stepfashion from one opening 17 to the next whereby, as each opening isdisposed above its corresponding connector member, the above describedretention of the cover edge may be effected.

The retention of the cover It on the far end wall may be effected bymeans of connector members therein cooperating with correspondingopenings 18 in the end of the cover sheet comprising the inner end ofthe roll 37. Alternatively, this end of the cover sheet may be securedto the spindle 15 by suitable means such as connectors 38 permitting thespindle retained on the end wall 14 to hold the end of the cover sheet.

The cover 10 is removed from the extended arrangement across the pool 12by a reverse operation wherein the sheet is rolled back onto the spindle15, the locking elements 25 being removed from the connector members 19successively as the sheet is rolled back to the position of FIGURE 2.The cover may be completely disassociated from the pool by removing allthe locking elements including those securing the end 36 to the endwall, and then rolling the roll 37 to the dashed position of FIG- URE 1.

Thus it may be seen that looking elements 25 cooperate with theconnector members 19 in an improved simple manner permitting thefacilitated installation and removal of the cover across the pool by thesimple progressive unrolling and rerolling thereof, effectivelyminimizing the number of people and time necessary to effect thecovering and uncovering of the pool.

While we have shown and described correct embodiment of our invention,it is to be understood that it is capable of many modifications.Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as definedin the appended claim.

We claim:

in a swimming pool having a swimming space defined by spaced side andend walls, structure for covering said space, comprising: a spindlehaving a length substantially greater than the maximum spacing of saidside walls; a flexible cover sheet adapted to extend across the poolspace and peripheraily overlie said side walls, said cover sheet beingwrapped around the mid-portion of the spindle to define a roll, saidcover sheet further defining a plurality of openings spaced edgewisethereof along the sides and ends of the sheet; and a plurality ofconnectors including members connected to said pool side and end Wallsand removably extendible through said openings when the sheet isunrolled from said spindle to have its sides and ends overlie the sideand end walls of the pool and said connectors, and a plurality ofindividual locking elements for releasably retaining said membersextended through said openings thereby to secure the edges of the-coverto the pool walls while permitting the space laterally circumjacent thecover to be free of cover securing means, each locking elementcomprising a clip having a first portion removably extendible through acover sheet opening and provided with a turned distal end for engagingsaid connector to cause the connector to extend through the opening,said clip having a second portion cooperating with the first portion toretain the clip in removable relationship with the connector to retainthe connector extended through said cover sheet opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS892,784 Warner July 7, 1908 1,267,243 McDonald May 21, 1918 1,483,830Hapeman Feb. 19, 1924 2,071,901 Ricketts Feb. 23, 1937 2,574,014 BryceNov. 6, 1951 2,580,555 Kroeger Jan. 1, 1952 2,952,024 Bartolucci Sept.13, 1960

